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Rainbow Rocks
My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks is a 2014 Canadian–American animated musical fantasy comedy film sequel to 2013's My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, and a spin-off of the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic animated television series. Written by Meghan McCarthy and directed by Jayson Thiessen, the film premiered in select movie theaters across the United States and Canada on September 27, 2014, which was followed by broadcast on Discovery Family, a joint venture between Discovery Communications and Hasbro, on October 17, 2014. The film re-envisions the main characters of the series, normally ponies, as human characters in a high school setting. The film's plot involves Twilight Sparkle's friends and Sunset Shimmer from Canterlot High in need of Twilight's help. Critical reviews have been positive, with the movie being described as "far superior" to the first installment.34 Contents hide * 1 Plot * 2 Cast * 3 Songs * 4 Production * 5 Release ** 5.1 International ** 5.2 Home media ** 5.3 Television * 6 Promotion ** 6.1 Live-action music videos ** 6.2 Mini-game ** 6.3 Novels ** 6.4 Online *** 6.4.1 Animated shorts *** 6.4.2 Games ** 6.5 Soundtrack * 7 Reception ** 7.1 Box office ** 7.2 Critical reception ** 7.3 Ratings * 8 References * 9 External links Plotedit In the human world, the students of Canterlot High School are preparing for an upcoming musical showcase, with Twilight Sparkle's human friends to perform in their own band, the Rainbooms, at the event. While practicing, they find that they assume half-pony forms whenever they play, caused by the Equestrian magic left over from Twilight's crown. Meanwhile, former school bully Sunset Shimmer is ostracized by the rest of the student body despite her attempts to redeem herself, though Twilight's friends still value their newfound friendship with her. Sunset volunteers to show three new students—Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk—around the school. The trio, calling themselves the Dazzlings, perplex Sunset and the Rainbooms when they sing a song that creates dissent amongst the rest of the student body and convinces them to turn the showcase into a battle of the bands. Finding that the Dazzlings have also put Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna under their spell, Sunset writes to Twilight for help through a magic book given to her by Princess Celestia. Twilight receives Sunset's message while settling into her new castle in Equestria.(after the events of "Twilight's Kingdom Part 1 and 2)" She discovers that the Dazzlings are sirens exiled from Equestria who feed on negative emotions to control others through their singing. Using the book's magic to create a means of activating the portal between worlds, Twilight returns to the human world alongside Spike and reunites with her human friends. She suggests that they use the power of friendship to counter the Dazzlings' spell, but they are unable to evoke their magic. Twilight determines that they must perform a song together as to cast their counterspell; Rainbow Dash puts Twilight as the band's lead singer and Twilight begins to work out lyrics for the counterspell. The Dazzlings are alerted to the magic protecting the Rainbooms and set the rest of the student body against the band, creating strife within the group and increasing their vulnerability to the trio's spell. At the competition, the Rainbooms best each opposing band, giving Twilight more time to work out the spell. During the semifinal round against Trixie Lulamoon's band, Rainbow Dash breaks out into an egotistical song that nearly triggers her half-pony transformation. Sunset stops her, knowing that this would expose their plan to the Dazzlings, but this is seen as a selfish act by the student body, furthering their dislike of Sunset. The Dazzlings guile Trixie into trapping the Rainbooms beneath the stage to prevent them from participating in the final round, during which the Dazzlings absorb their magic as Twilight's friends argue with each other. Twilight and Sunset realize that the hostility within their group is preventing Twilight's spell from working, and convince the others to work together. The band is rescued by Spike and DJ Pon-3, the latter being protected from the Dazzlings' singing by her headphones. Performing on a makeshift stage provided by DJ Pon-3, the Rainbooms transform and fend off the Dazzlings' siren forms in a magical battle. Backed by Sunset, who also assumes a half-pony form, the full band is able to break the Dazzlings' spell and destroy the gems that empower the trio, rendering them tone deaf. The Dazzlings run off in defeat while the rest of the school celebrates. Twilight and Spike return to Equestria with the ability to return at any time, keeping in touch with Sunset via her magic book. A montage that plays during the closing credits shows Sunset being accepted by the student body and performing as the Rainbooms' new lead singer and guitarist. In a post-credits scene, the human world's version of Twilight Sparkle is shown investigating the strange activity around Canterlot High. Castedit See also: List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic characters * Tara Strong as Twilight Sparkle, a studious alicorn and one of the crowned princesses of Equestria. She returns to the human world and serves as the temporary lead vocalist of her human friends' band, the Rainbooms. The human world's version of Twilight makes a cameo appearance in a post-credits scene. * Ashleigh Ball as Rainbow Dash, a tomboyish and competitive Pegasus pony. Her human counterpart is the Rainbooms' band leader and guitarist. ** Ball also voices Applejack, a hard-working farm pony. Her human counterpart is the Rainbooms' bassist. * Andrea Libman as Pinkie Pie, a hyper, fun-loving party pony. Her human counterpart serves as the Rainbooms' drummer. ** Libman also voices Fluttershy, a timid Pegasus with a love for animals. Her human counterpart plays the tambourine on the Rainbooms. * Tabitha St. Germain as Rarity, a dressmaker unicorn. Her human counterpart is the Rainbooms' keytarist. ** St. Germain also voices Vice Principal Luna, the vice principal of Canterlot High and human counterpart of Princess Luna. * Cathy Weseluck as Spike, Twilight's young dragon assistant, who journeys with her into the human world as a dog. His ordinary dog counterpart in the human world makes a cameo appearance in the film's post-credits scene. * Rebecca Shoichet as Sunset Shimmer,5 a unicorn and former student of Princess Celestia who is reformed during the events of the previous film and befriends the Rainbooms. * Kazumi Evans as Adagio Dazzle,6 the leader of the Dazzlings, a trio of sirens that aims to control Canterlot High through their singing. * Marÿke Hendrikse as Sonata Dusk,7 the air-headed member of the Dazzlings. * Diana Kaarina as Aria Blaze,7 the abrasive member of the Dazzlings. * Vincent Tong as Flash Sentry, a guitar player and Sunset Shimmer's ex-boyfriend who is infatuated with Twilight Sparkle. * Kathleen Barr as Trixie Lulamoon, a magician who is the guitarist of her own band, the Illusions. * Nicole Oliver as Principal Celestia, the principal of Canterlot High and human counterpart of Princess Celestia. The film features minor appearances from Michelle Creber as the human version of Apple Bloom; Ingrid Nilson as the human version of Maud Pie, Pinkie Pie's sister; Peter New as the human version of Big McIntosh; Lee Tockar and Richard Ian Cox as the human versions of Snips and Snails; Brian Drummond as an unnamed delivery pony in Equestria; and St. Germain as the human version of Photo Finish. Shoichet, Evans, and Shannon Chan-Kent also provide the singing voices of Twilight, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, respectively, while Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze's singing voices are performed by Madeline Merlo and Shylo Sharity. Evans also provides one line of dialogue as Octavia Melody.8 Songsedit Like in Equestria Girls, the songs were composed by Daniel Ingram with lyric writing shared between Ingram and screenwriter Meghan McCarthy; with the exception of "Rainbow Rocks" and "Shine Like Rainbows" which had lyrics by Ingram; "Bad Counter Spell" and "Under Our Spell" by McCarthy; and "Shake Your Tail" having a first draft by writer Amy Keating Rogers, in which Ingram later revised.9 Trevor Hoffman provided the arrangements for the songs, and musician Caleb Chan produced the songs as well as played guitar and bass.10 * Rainbow Rocks - The Rainbooms * Better Than Ever - The Rainbooms sans Twilight Sparkle * Battle of the Bands- The Dazzlings and students * Bad Counter Spell - The Rainbooms * Shake Your Tail - The Rainbooms * Under Our Spell - The Dazzlings * Tricks Up My Sleeve - Trixie and the Illusions * Awesome as I Wanna Be - Rainbow Dash and the Rainbooms * Welcome to the Show - The Dazzlings, the Rainbooms, Sunset Shimmer, and students * Rainbooms Battle - Instrumental * Shine Like Rainbows - The cast Productionedit The sequel was announced by Hasbro as part of a press kit at the 2014 International Toy Fair.11 On February 13, 2014, Meghan McCarthy tweeted that she had worked on the film during the summer of 2013.12 That same day, songwriter Daniel Ingram tweeted that there will be a total of 12 songs in the film, the greatest number of songs featured in a Friendship Is Magic episode or film thus far;13 however, only 11 songs made it in the film. The film's opening credits were storyboarded by Tony Cliff.14 The storybook illustration depictions of the sirens in Equestria were done by Rebecca Dart.15 The illustrations shown during the ending credits were drawn by Katrina Hadley.16 In the audio commentary of the DVD, Equestria Girls, at first, had no intention of becoming a franchise and the thought of a sequel did not cross Meghan McCarthy's mind. Additionally, Sunset did not become a main character until the second draft of the script.15The DVD commentary also points out that the midnight snack scene between Twilight and Sunset was actually added late into the film's production.15 Releaseedit The film received a limited theatrical release on September 27, 2014, in the United States17 and Canada.18 It also received a 'Purple Carpet' premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, which was attended by the cast and crew as well as some celebrities such as Jamie Foxx, Modern Family actress Ariel Winter, and Academy Award nominee Quvenzhané Wallis.19 On July 24, 2014, a movie clip and a teaser trailer were released on Yahoo! TV.20 On September 10, 2014 through Equestria Daily, Shout! Factoryrevealed a 30-second trailer.21 Two days later on September 12, a 50-second trailer was released on YouTube.22 Six days later on September 18, a full theatrical trailer was released also via Yahoo! TV;23 the trailer was then uploaded to Hasbro's YouTube channel four days later on September 22.24 Internationaledit My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks was theatrically released on October 25 and 26, 2014 in the United Kingdom.25 The film was theatrically released on November 15, 2014 release in Australia.26 Home mediaedit The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Shout! Factory on October 28, 2014, in Region 1.27 Special features include a new featurette, the eight animated shorts that were previously released online, a sing-along song, and an audio commentary on the film by writer Meghan McCarthy, director Jayson Thiessen, co-director Ishi Rudell, vice president of development at Hasbro Studios Michael Vogel, and Hasbro's executive director Brian Lenard.28 There are also three store exclusives for the DVD only. The Target edition includes a bracelet, a $4 coupon for one MLP toy, and the original Equestria Girls DVD. The Wal-Mart edition includes a music CD, a digital copy of the film, and the same $4 coupon. The K-Mart edition includes a "backstage pass" and the coupon.29 Upon initial release, the DVD version of the film had an error in which chapters 5 and 6 play in reverse when the DVD is played from the main menu ‘Play’ listing.30 A Region 2 Rainbow Rocks DVD by Primal Screen Entertainment is scheduled to be released on March 23, 2015 for various countries, including France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom.31 Televisionedit Rainbow Rocks made its U.S. cable television premiere on Discovery Family on October 17, 2014.32 Promotionedit Live-action music videosedit On February 20, 2014, Hasbro released a live-action music video on its official website depicting the Equestria Girls in a rock band. Like the Magic of Friendship music video released to tie-in with the first movie, the Rainbow Rocks music video uses a rock version of the "Equestria Girls" song and portrays the main characters' human counterparts performing the "EG Stomp".33 Through the Equestria Girls YouTube channel, another music video was released on August 4, 2014. It depicts four more teenage girls, each one dressed as the characters DJ Pon-3, Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk respectively.34 Mini-gameedit A Rainbow Rocks missile command-type mini-game was added to the Hasbro Arcade mobile app on April 8, 2014. On October 29, 2014, the mini-game was updated to include the Dazzlings with two songs from the movie and one song from one of the live-action music videos.35 Novelsedit Perdita Finn wrote an adaptation of the Rainbow Rocks animated shorts under the same name; it was released on April 8, 2014.36 A follow-up to the novelization, titled The Mane Event and also penned by Finn, was released on October 7, 2014.37 Onlineedit Animated shortsedit On February 13, 2014, Entertainment Weekly released the first trailer;38 about four months later however, Meghan tweeted that the clips from that trailer "are separate shorts and not scenes in the movie."39 A series of eight animated shorts was released onHasbro Studio's YouTube channel in 2014 from March 27 to June 19 to promote the film.40 The shorts were created by the television series' crew to tie into the film, and are considered prequels to the film's events, detailing how each of them discovered that they could awaken Equestrian magic within them by playing their respective instruments.41